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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
A masterpiece
To say that this is perhaps the greatest book about land ever written would not be an overstatement. Barry Lopez is a thoughtful, caring, wise author who never overstates. He feels and thinks from a large heart.
To say that this is perhaps the greatest book about land ever written would not be an overstatement. Barry Lopez is a thoughtful, caring, wise author who never overstates. He feels and thinks from a large heart.
A re-read decades later and got so much more out of it.
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez can best be described as a love letter to the arctic north. It is part history, part science, part ecology, and very much a written tribute to the landscape and life there. Lopez’s writing is beautiful, but it can also become heavy with description and detail—erudite to the point of losing me in page after page of the minutia of musk oxen, for example. Lopez also tends to write long complex sentences. The author’s attempt to bring light to what many consider a barren landscape is compelling, and I was glad to have read the book—number eleven on my around-the-world book tour challenge. I rated this 3 ½ stars rounded up.
“One of the oldest dreams of mankind is to find a dignity that might include all living things. And one of the greatest of human longings must be to bring such dignity to one’s own dreams, for each to find his or her own life exemplary in some way. The struggle to do this is a struggle because an adult sensibility must find some way to include all the dark threads of life. A way to do this is to pay attention to what occurs in a land not touched by human schemes, where an original order prevails.”
“One of the oldest dreams of mankind is to find a dignity that might include all living things. And one of the greatest of human longings must be to bring such dignity to one’s own dreams, for each to find his or her own life exemplary in some way. The struggle to do this is a struggle because an adult sensibility must find some way to include all the dark threads of life. A way to do this is to pay attention to what occurs in a land not touched by human schemes, where an original order prevails.”
Interesting topics and observations, but the prose is too flowery, and sometimes melodramatic, for me.
Can I give six stars? Barry writes lyrically of places that I would never want to visit in the way he visited, but that seem absolutely amazing. The arctic landscape, the people, the animals, the explorers... he immersed himself in them, his knowledge was encyclopedic, but his writing is poetic. Look at your world the way Barry looks at a place, to find its hidden soul, to see all the beauty there that can be seen, things you cannot articulate, but that Barry puts into words. The amazing, deeply flawed men who risked, and so often lost, their lives in this incredibly distant and dangerous place. The world is a lesser place now that Barry Lopez has died. He definitely is one of the people I would have loved to talk with at a dinner party. I saw him give a talk about Horizon, and I count myself lucky to have gotten that close to him. If you are at all curious about the arctic, or about great writing about nature in general, I strongly recommend this book.
This book took me a little while to get into but, much like the arctic itself, spend a little time there and you come away amazed. Lopez' writing evokes the beauty of this vast landscape that appears desolate but is teeming with wildlife, danger, and humanity's deep longing for exploration and connection to nature. I'm a little surprised to see this as a national bestseller but if you are into nature writing you will love it. Maybe you didn't know you wanted to learn about the numerous types of ice in the arctic? Migratory bird patterns? Polar bear seal hunting tactics? You will be captivated by all of it. Great, unexpected book.
Dense with fascinating history, detail and science, what I enjoyed most about this book were the insights and observations that Lopez shared of his own experience. His personal and intimate writing brought me to tears.
I think my expectations of this book were a bit skewed. I wasn't expecting so much history as much as I was looking for the author's experience in the Arctic and, given the introduction's admiration of the native Eskimo, more insight into their culture. His experiences were delightful and compelling, but more than a few cursory anecdotes, the Eskimo angle was lacking. Not sure I needed a brief history of the entirety of Arctic exploration nor the complete natural history of the muskox either. Well written, interesting enough, just not what I was expecting. Perhaps in another mindset I might enjoy it more.
Did I learn a lot? Yes. Was I moved? Yes. Did this get me thinking about a lot of big and immovable ideas? Yes. Did it peak my interest in learning and maybe even experiencing more about the arctic? Yes. Was the writing good? Yes.
Was I entertained? No. Was this enthralling or engaging to me? No. Did I find this easy to read? No. Was there a general thesis that tied everything convincingly together? No. Do I ever plan to reread or reference this book? No.
Did I have a good time reading this? Maybe. Would I recommend this to others? Maybe. Do I wish I had picked a different book to read ? Maybe. Do I regret buying this book? Maybe.
Meh.
Was I entertained? No. Was this enthralling or engaging to me? No. Did I find this easy to read? No. Was there a general thesis that tied everything convincingly together? No. Do I ever plan to reread or reference this book? No.
Did I have a good time reading this? Maybe. Would I recommend this to others? Maybe. Do I wish I had picked a different book to read ? Maybe. Do I regret buying this book? Maybe.
Meh.
Arctic Dreams is the kind of book worth reading over and over again